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Thursday, February 16, 2012

Welcome all Sew, Mama, Sew! readers! I'm so excited about my first apron tutorial on the site (check it out here), that I wanted to share the excitement with all of you! So, in addition to 15% off in my etsy shop with coupon code SEWMAMASEW15, I'm giving away the apron I made for the tutorial! So, if you love it and want to save yourself a bit of time, it can be yours! Don't you just love the ruffle and the flower?!

How to Enter the Apron Giveaway!

1. Post a comment below with the words "Ruffle Me Please" along with your favorite item of clothing or accessory with a ruffle!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

You all saw my post about my handmade apron weekend at the beginning of the month in which my mom and Aunt made the trip to Richmond from NJ to help me sew 20 aprons. Yes, you read that right, TWENTY! to get ready for the photo shoot.

Well, the photo shoot went AMAZING! And, there are a few things in the works that I can't share until its finalized. But, the good news is that I can share that a half apron tutorial by me (along with a photo from the shoot) will be featured on Sew Mama Sew tomorrow as part of their True Love Series!! And, there will be a special giveaway and shop coupon code here as well - so be sure to come on back tomorrow. VERY EXCITING, RIGHT?!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Happy Valentines Day! What a great day to celebrate Love! As you know, Love is a very big part of Love Elaine. Not only is it a sentiment, as all items are handmade with love, but it is also my Grandmother's maiden name. Love is a big part of my family and this business- and today, on Valentines Day, I want to thank everyone for your love and support!

Now, on to a bit of Valentines Day sewing! I participated in the GenerationQ Magazine swap and sent my partner this super cute heart mug rug with a place to hold a treat!

Sweet Treat Mug Rug by Love Elaine

And in return, I got this very cute sewn Valentines Day card from my swap partner, Debbie from Esch House Quilts! I just love how sweet the hearts are on the front! Her Etsy Shop has a variety of cute patterns - be sure to check it out!

Valentines Day Card from Esch House Quilts

And, no Valentines Day post is complete without showing off what my Valentine brought me :)

Red roses are one of my favorite flowers and he never disappoints! Hope everyone had a wonderful day!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

We moved into a 3 bedroom house in July of last year from a very small 2 bedroom townhouse. What did this mean? It meant I now had a dedicated SEWING ROOM and GUEST ROOM that were actually SEPARATE ROOMS! YIPEEEE!

In our old place, my "sewing room" was also the laundry room, my closet, and guest room COMBINED. To say it was not the most functional space would be an understatement, and there was NO STORAGE. You can check out a post of my previous sewing room update here.

However, the only thing I was able to do in my new sewing room was get a new cutting table (I had been using a folding table) and shelf from Ikea, as well as shelves on the walls. Its not pretty right now, but I have GRAND plans that include paint and a stencil from Royal Design Studio. In the meantime, I thought I would share inspiration photos that I've been pinning to my "Sewing Room Love" board on Pinterest.

Don't you just LOVE the shelves and the ribbon hanging station of this one? And, the sewing machine looks out the window, which is especially nice on long, sunny weekend days when I am in the sewing room!!

This next one, I DIE! Do you see that it has a SINK?! A SINK in the room?! And, there are cabinets and drawers and thread organized by COLOR! This is my DREAM future sewing room/studio. I just picture myself dressed so nicely in a frilly apron fluttering about sewing and making things in this room...ahhh...

This photo below is probably a bit more realistic for how my sewing room will shape up - I just love thread displayed on the wall, as it leaves space on my sewing table for everything else - and believe me, there is a lot of "everything else" that usually finds its way on my sewing table! I just LOVE threads in color order, however, I doubt I'll ever get THAT organized for more than a day!

I will admit a secret - I have a huge thing for clipboards. Something about pretty clipboards with lists and papers on them just does it for me - so I love this idea of using multiple clipboards to display project lists, orders, patterns, etc.

You cannot tell me that this chalkboard paint wall calendar doesn't just make you SWOON and wish you had it! I've been thinking about a way to organize all of my deadlines and projects and I think I've found it!

Fabric storage is a HUGE issue for me! I have a lot of it and often not a full bolt (but that will be changing soon!) so I love the idea of displaying fabric like this because I would have a much better idea of what I have, rather than always buying new. Wait. Who am I kidding? I will always buy new fabric, I have a serious addiction. But hey, admitting it is the first step, right?!

Are you planning any sewing room or craft room/space organization? Let me know some of your favorite organization pins - I need LOTS of inspiration! I promise to update you all here when I finally get around to updating my sewing room!! I can't wait!

Monday, February 6, 2012

Whew! What a weekend! If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter - you know that I had quite the busy weekend preparing for and holding my first "for real" photo shoot for Love Elaine's new spring line of aprons! I say "for real" because I've had photo shoots with friends and my point and shoot camera, and they have served me well.

But, I finally took the plunge and hired a photographer (Callie Hardman is WONDERFUL - more on her later!), rounded up my friends with cute kids (wait until you see the CUTEST kids EVER wearing the most ADORABLE aprons EVER), booked a location and spent 2 hours and 15 minutes of pure shutter-happiness devoted to Love Elaine items. It was pure bliss. And, because Sophia has graced this blog so many times as the cutest baby ever - here's a behind the scenes look at the photo shoot!!!

However, prior to the shoot on Sunday morning, I had to actually MAKE all of the items needed for the shoot. So, my wonderful Mom and my Aunt Faith got in the car and drove down from NJ to spend the weekend with me, well Friday night and Saturday, sewing 20 yes TWENTY aprons! In full disclosure, Love Elaine has NEVER had that many aprons in stock at a time. I'll be sharing more about the aprons in a couple of weeks - but I'm excited to announce that we're doing things differently! There are new designs and new fabrics - and I promise, you're going to LOVE what's in store! And because I am terrible at keeping secrets, here's a sneak peak at the fabrics for Spring 2012.

Also, there will be a few exciting announcements (I hope!) in the coming weeks. All I will say is that in only 5 weeks of 2012, I'm very close to realizing 2 major business goals for Love Elaine. I'm staying true to my theme for the year and truly embracing all that is coming my way! In fact, in just over a week I'll be featured on a popular sewing blog with a tutorial! How COOL is that?! Here's a peek at the project I'll be featuring...

And, because I'm in the mood to share something super embarrassing just because I have photographic evidence to prove it - last Thursday morning on my way to work I RAN. OUT. OF. GAS. For most, this would be completely devastating and might be met with "what do I do?" For me, and the fact that my gas gauge used to be broken, was actually a regular occurrence over a year ago. However, now that it is fixed, I have no excuse - I had just gotten home late Wednesday night and ignored the yellow light, and the next morning I was running late and forgot! So, of course, its raining. Luckily, I was able to get someone to help me get gas. And, while waiting for them to show, not only did a police officer stop to put on his lights for safety, but a FIRETRUCK, with lights blazing came to my aid as a lady in distress.

Only in Richmond, Virginia folks. Being from NJ, I promise, cars would
have sped by, honked and given me the #1 sign (as in you are a #1 loser)
and cursed me for being in their way. So, here is the firetruck in view
through my windshield. Lesson learned - its never too late to get gas but at least I know Richmond's finest are willing to help! Here's to hoping your gas tank is always full!